3rd SUNDAY OF PASCHA — Tone 2. Myrrhbearing Women. Hieromartyr Patrick, Bishop of Prussa, and his companions
Tone 2 Troparion (Resurection)
When You descended to death, O Life Immortal, You slew hell with the splendor of Your Godhead. And when from the depths You raised the dead, all the powers of heaven cried out:// “O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to You!”
Tone 2 Troparion (Resurrection)
The noble Joseph, when he had taken down Your most pure Body from the Tree, wrapped it in fine linen and anointed it with spices, and placed it in a new tomb. But You rose on the third day, O Lord,// granting the world great mercy.
Tone Troparion (Pentecostarion)
The Angel came to the myrrhbearing women at the tomb and said: “Myrrh is fitting for the dead; but Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption! So proclaim: ‘The Lord is risen,// granting the world great mercy.’”
Tone 2 Kontakion (Pentecostarion)
You commanded the Myrrhbearers to rejoice, O Christ God. By Your Resurrection, You stopped the lamentation of Eve, the first mother. You commanded them to preach to Your Apostles:// “The Savior is risen from the tomb!”
Tone 8 Kontakion (Pascha)
You descended into the tomb, O Immortal, You destroyed the power of death. In victory You arose, O Christ God, proclaiming: “Rejoice!” to the Myrrhbearing Women,// granting peace to Your Apostles, and bestowing Resurrection on the fallen.
Tone 6 Prokeimenon
O Lord, save Your people, / and bless Your inheritance! (Ps. 27:9a)
V. To You, O Lord, will I call. O my God, be not silent to me! (Ps. 27:1a)
Acts 6:1-7 (Epistle)
Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Tone 8
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
V. O Lord, You have been gracious to Your land; You have turned back the captivity of Jacob. (Ps. 84:1)
V. Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Ps. 84:10)
Mark 15:43-16:8 (Gospel)
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid. Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away – for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples – and Peter – that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Phronema for Orthodox Christians: Life and Mentality
Phronema is translated with a variety of English words, such as “mind,” “mentality,” “thought,” “attitude,” “approach,” and “stance.” Orthodox Christians sometimes describe it as a worldview, an orientation, “a particular spirit, theological sentiment or frame of mind.” It is difficult to define because phronema involves not just mental attitude but one’s entire way of life. It is “a scriptural, traditional, doctrinal, historical spirit” that “is reflected and existentialized in the liturgical life of the individual.”
Father George Nicozisin described how the elements of early Christian life combined to form a specific phronema, which is the phronema preserved today in the Orthodox Church. It was the way the early Christians expressed their theology long before doctrines, creeds and canons were promulgated and decreed through official councils. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ were first lived as a tradition and then put into sentences and chapters that formed the written source of knowledge we know as scripture. As tradition and scripture surfaced, they did so through the annals of history. As each of these four dimensions—scripture, tradition, doctrine and history—converged and blended, they became the pillar and foundation comprising the phronema, and whose mode of expression became liturgical life for both the Church and the believers. He eloquently expressed how phronema guided the lives of Orthodox Christians in the New World: When Orthodox people came to the shores of the American continent, they did not come fortified with books of theology, nor even Bibles, for the most part.
What they brought with them was something intangible. They brought with them the Orthodox Christian phronema, the parakatathiki (“deposit”), the heritage and legacy of scripture, tradition, doctrine and history which they received as a deposit, from one generation to another. Nicozisin’s book, written decades ago, is a warning that Orthodox Christian religious education in the New World is failing because Orthodox Christians in America are using Protestant and Catholic models of religious education, rather than instilling the Orthodox phronema in our children in the home. He stressed that Bible stories, church traditions, history, and liturgics cannot be merely taught as though they were something detached from everyday life.
The lifestyle and devotion to their faith of those immigrants who brought Orthodox Christianity to other lands was never based on book learning, knowledge of Scripture, or theology, just as phronema was never based on those things for the very first Christians. Those immigrants were Orthodox because of their phronema, and their Orthodoxy was completely integrated into their daily lives. They prayed and called upon the Name of the Lord, Panaghia, the Angels and Saints in their everyday life, as though it were second nature. They kept strict fasts; observed Feast days and name days; censed their homes each Saturday night and eve of holy days; journeyed through the Lenten seasons for the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos, Christmas, and Easter as spiritual pilgrims; looked upon Ta Phota (Epiphany) and Pentecost as days of rededication; and they unconsciously made arrangements for Memorials, Artoklasia (Blessing of Five Loaves), Parakleses (Prayers of Supplication), Ephchelia (Unction), and a host of other Orthodox Christian religious practices which were a part of their life from as far back as they could remember.
Acquiring an Orthodox phronema is not primarily an intellectual task. Phronema is formed consistently, habitually, regularly through behaviors. But phronema is not merely moral values that people profess. It is a way of life based on complete faith and confidence in the Church. In that respect, phronema is “the completely self-sacrificial trust and faith in religious and ethical truths which derive not from human experience and wisdom, but from the voice of God through revelation which is self-evident and does not undergo censure or doubt.” Orthodox phronema rests on a fundamental belief shared by Orthodox Christians that the Church has preserved apostolic Tradition and will continue to faithfully preserve it. We know this from experience and believe that as the Church has been faithful in the past, it is faithful to the apostolic truth in the present day, even as it faces various issues, crises, and struggles in this world.
Because we are confident in the Church, we do not replace its teachings and guidance with our own individual opinions. That itself is part of the phronema.
Spiritual Warfare
We are largely unaware of the impact that marketing and advertising techniques have on our consumer behavior: labels, graphics, colors, product placement, commercial tunes, product sponsorships, and other factors influence us. We easily recall songs, commercial jingles, and slogans from decades ago, as well as catch phrases from old television programs and favorite lines from movies. Constant exposure to the general culture shapes us. There is no doubt: we have acquired the world’s phronema. Music, movies, television, social media, education, workplace, friends, activities, and a thousand other influences are continually at work on us. Today many people cannot allow a half hour to elapse without checking their cell phones for messages, news, and social media postings. Is this not affecting our minds and our values? How different would our phronema be if we said a prayer every few minutes rather than checking emails or our phones? How can we possibly acquire the mind of Christ, an Orthodox phronema, in the midst of this overwhelming assault by the world? The power and influence of the world and the extreme depth of its reach are far worse today than ever before. Radio, television, and the internet have brought the world’s phronema into our very homes twenty-four hours a day. Previously, exposure to the values of the world was limited to certain activities and a certain number of hours per day, such as television viewing in the evening. But cell phones and other personal devices have virtually taken us prisoners, or, more accurately, we have willingly surrendered ourselves to these devices. They besiege us and capture our attention countless times daily. We must not passively accept this as “the way things are” but mount a resistance and counterassault. We must engage in spiritual warfare. An invasion is taking place, more serious than any invasion of migrants streaming across borders. An infiltration of the mind and soul is occurring, more dangerous than any political ideology or religious extremism. It is a rapidly spreading contagion far more consequential than any germ, microbe, or virus. All worldly threats recede in the face of the greatest risk of all: the death of the soul and the loss of eternal salvation. By succumbing to the world and its enticements, we are turning away from Christ. But we can emerge victorious by fighting back, by aligning ourselves with Christ and the saints, by refusing to retreat or surrender to the world, through a determined and resolute effort to conform ourselves to Christ, who assured us, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Practical Advice
We can successfully fight the influence of the world and attain an Orthodox phronema by immersing ourselves in the totality of the life of the Church. The life of the Church is assimilated and known only through life—not in the abstract, not in a rational way. If one must nevertheless apply concepts of the life of the Church, the most appropriate concepts would be not juridical and archeological ones but biological and aesthetic ones. . . . The Orthodox taste, the Orthodox temper is felt but is not subject to arithmetical calculation. Orthodoxy is shown, not proved. This is why there is only one way to understand Orthodoxy: through direct Orthodox experience. . . . To become Orthodox it is necessary to immerse oneself all at once in the very element of Orthodoxy, to begin living in an Orthodox way. There is no other way. (Pavel Florensky: The Pillar and Ground of the Truth) Many elements of Orthodox life shape our phronema, including church attendance, receiving the Holy Mysteries, prayer and spiritual direction, reading Scripture and spiritual books, observing the feasts and fasts of the Church, practicing virtue, and observance of many seemingly inconsequential little things.
— Constantinou, Eugenia Scarvelis. Thinking Orthodox: Understanding and Acquiring the Orthodox Christian Mind. Ancient Faith Publishing.